how the organisation set its rents.

General manager Edwin Cowen defended the BHC's policy saying rents were based on the property not the tenant's ability to pay.

"Under current policy, rents charged for BHC rental houses depended on the number of bedrooms. location, value of property etc.,'' Mr. Cowen explained.

"The rent therefore depends on the house and is determined independently of the tenant's ability to pay.'' But he said that provision were made to accommodate a tenant's financial constraints.

"How much the tenant actually pays themselves and how much is paid through a rental subsidy, depends on the tenants' financial circumstances,'' he said.

"Those financial circumstances are determined in assessments which are made by Government's Department of Financial Assistance.'' The objective is to ensure that the rent paid by a tenant, the tenant's share of the total rent, is at a level which they can afford.'' He added that BHC tenants, at the moment, were spending about 25 percent of their household on rent.